Color-printed flocked fabrics



July 30, 1963 H. HABER COLOR-PRINTED FLOCKED FABRICS Filed July 13. 1960INVEN TOR.

HYMAN HABEA E ATTORNEY United States Patent Jersey Filed July 13, 1960,Ser. No. 42,616 6 Claims. (Cl. 8-66) This invention relates to flockedfabrics having contrasting flocked and unflocked areas and moreparticularly to cellulosic flocked fabrics providing novel contrastingeffects between the flocked or raised areas and the unflocked ordepressed areas.

It is among the objects of the present invention to prowide a flockedcellulosic fabric having unusual striking contrasting effects betweenthe flocked or raised areas and the unflocked or depressed areas.

It is another object of this invention to provide a process forproducing such novel flocked fabrics.

In accordance with this invention a cellulosic fabric, dyed if desiredto provide a cellulosic fabric base of any desired color, is impregnatedwith a thermosetting resin precondensate, the impregnated fabric thenschreinered to produce a silk finish or subjected to frictioncalendering to produce a glazed finish, then cured, thereafter aflocking adhesive applied in a desired pattern, viscose, acetate, orcotton flock, or mixture of any two or all three of such flock applied,the flocked fabric dried and cured to set the flocking adhesive, excessflock removed, and thereafter the flocked fabric printed with a printingpaste containing reactive or direct dyes, which dye or color the flockbut have little or no effect on the resin finished unflocked areas. Theresin finish produced by friction calendering or schreinering andsubsequent curing of the resin is hereinafter referred to as a calenderresin finish.

The fabric, after treatment as hereinabove described, may be given anyconventional washing including a cold water Wash, drying and framingtreatment; for example, it may be aged for a suitable period of time atan elevated temperature, say about 200 to 240 F., or steamed, thenWashed with water with or without a subsequent wash with detergent andwater, rinsed with water, dried, framed to finished width and tubed.

The finish imparted to the fabric in the unflocked areas by the calenderresin finish resists penetration of the reactive or direct dyes employedin the printing of the fabric so that the unflccked areas retain littleor none of the color applied during the printing operation and resistmigration of the color from the flocked areas into the adjoiningunflocked areas. A surprisingly sharp contrast is thus obtained betweenthe flocked and unflocked areas due chiefly to the calender resinfinish. In addition the calender resin finish being glossy, silk-like,or glazed presents an unusually pleasing contrast with the multi-coloredprinted flocked areas. The flocked areas are colored in brilliant hues,the outlines which are sharply delineated coinciding with the outline ofthe flocked areas, whereas the calender resin finished unflocked ordepressed areas sharply contrast therewith since, as noted, they resistpenetration thereinto by the dyestutf present inthe printing pastesemployed in printing the flocked areas and have a silk or glaze finishcontrasting with the fuzzy or fur-like appearance of the flocked areas.

The cellulosic fabric used as the base fabric may be any of thecommercially available cellulosic fabrics, such as cotton, rayonincluding filament and/or spun yarns of rayon, and fabrics containingmixtures of these fibers alone or these fibers with other fibersincluding synthetic fibers in which the cellulosic content of the fabricis at 3,099,514 Patented July 30, 1963 least about say "50% by weight.White celluiosic fabric may be used as the starting material orcellulosic fabrics dyed in any desired color or colored design. The basefabric may, for example, be dyed with direct dyes, vat dyes, basic dyes,naphthols, indigisols, sulfur colors, etc. Examples of suitable fabricsare sateens, voiles and broadcloths.

The base fabric is impregnated with an aqueous solution of athermosetting resin precondensate such as urea formaldehyde includingdirnethylol urea and trirnethylol urea, melamine formaldehyde includingdi-, tri-, tetra-, and hexamethylol melamine, ethylene urea formaldehydeincluding dimethylol ethylene urea, ethylene urea triazineprecondensates, or mixtures of two or more of these resins. Theconcentration of the resin precondensate in the aqueous solution appliedto the fabric is not critical; dilute solutions may be used and thefabric passed therethrough a number of times, desirably with interveningdrying to obtain the desired resin pick-up.

The amount of resin-forming solids deposited on the fabric will dependon the fabric treated. In general, the amount of resin solids is fromabout 2% to about 15% to 20% based on the dry weight of the fabric. Toobtain such deposit of the resin-forming solids on the fabric, anaqueous solution containing from about 2% to about 20% to 25% by weightof the thermosetting resin preconden-sate is employed for impregnatingthe fabric.

The aqueous solution of ther-mosetting resin precondensate contains asuitable catalyst or accelerator such as magnesium chloride, aminehydrochloride, di-ammonium phosphate, ammonium thiocyanate and Zincchloride in small amount say 0.1% to 3% or 4% by weight based on theweight of the bath. It may also contain usual additives such assofteners and preservatives.

After the fabric has been impregnated with the solution of thermosettingresin precondensate which may be effected in any known manner, forexample, by padding the fabric is calendered and thereafter heat-driedto effect curing of the resin.

Friction calendering may be carried out in any conventional type ofcalender at a temperature of from 275 to 350 F. under pressure of from 6to 10 tons to produce a glazed surface. The schreinering is effected bypassing the fabric through a schreiner calender at a temperature of 275to 350 F. under a pressure of from 25 to 35 tons to produce a silk-likesurface. The calendering steps are important because they areinstrumental in imparting a resin finish to the fabric upon subsequentcuring which resists staining or penetration by the dyes in the printingpaste applied to the flocked areas and minimizes, if not completelypreventing, migration of :dye from the printed flock to contiguousareas. Hence the calender resin finish results in sharply contrastingeffects between the raised flocked areas and the resin-finishedunflocked depressed areas.

The drying and curing may be carried out at temperatures of from about250 to about 350 F., with a residence time in the dryer of from about 2or 3 minutes to 15 minutes or longer. The higher temperatures areemployed with the shorter residence times within the range above given,and the lower temperatures with the longer residence times.

The cured resin-impregnated fabric has then applied thereto :a flockingadhesive which may be any of the adhesives employed in the flocking arteffective to securely bond the flock to the calender resin finishedcellulosic base. Polyurethane adhesives have been found eminentlysatisfactory. The adhesive is applied by a printing or en'gnaved roller,by stencilling, screen printing, or otherwise, to selected areas of thecalender resin 3 finished fabric to form the desired flocked design uponsubsequent application of the flock.

The printing paste applied containing the reactive or direct dyecontains from 0.3% to 10%, preferably about 5%, of the dye; from 40% to50%, preferably about 45% thickener such as a gum or cellulosicthickener or sodium alginate solution; a small amount, from about 1% to4%, sodium bicarbonate when the printing paste contains a reactive dye;and the rest water.

The reactive dyes used in practicing this invention are the cellulosicreactive dyes which combine chemically with the molecules of thecellulosic flock, i.e., rayon, cotton or mixtures of such flock. Onetype of reactive dyes are those having the chemical formula in which DYEis a chromophor, such as an 2120, anthraquinone or phthalocyaninestructure with the sulfo groups (S and X is a chlorine atom or aninactive radical which may contain a solubilizin'g group. Examples ofsuch reactive dyes are disclosed, for example, in United States Patents2,892,670; 2,892,828; 2,892,829; and 2,892,831, all granted lune 30,1959. Reactive dyes are sold, tfor example, by Ciba Co., Inc., under itstrade name Cibacrons, by Imperial Chemical Industries Limited under itstrade name Procions, by Carbic Color and Chemical Company under itstrade name Remazols, by Geigy under its trade name Drimarines, and bySandoz under its trade name Reactones.

Instead of the reactive dyes or along with such dyes, direct dyes may beused which react with the cellulose of the flock to form a color-fastreaction product, but will not appreciably strain or penetrate thecalender resin finished unflocked areas to an extent that the dye cannotbe readily removed, for example, by washing with a detergent or soapsolution. The direct dyes comprise the sodium or calcium salts ofsulfonic acids of azo compounds such as Durofast Red 6BLL (Pr. 428) andPontamine Black E Double (Pr. 5 81).

For a fiuller understanding of the nature and objects of this invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURES 1 and 1a together show a diagrammatic layout of the equipmentfor practicing the process of the present invention; FIGURE 1 runs fromleft to right and FIGURE 1a from right to left; while in FIGURE 1a theWeb is shown as having been reversed, i.e., the flocked sunface is onthe underside, it will be appreciated that this is for illustrativepurposes only and the web need not be reversed between the flock removaland flock printing steps;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical section on a greatly enlarged scaletaken through a fabric embodying this invention.

In the drawing, 10 indicates a roll of cellulosic fabric 11 of the typehereinabove disclosed. Fabric 11 is unwound from roll 10 and fed througha bath 12 of aqueous thermosetting resin precondensate where the fabricis impregnated with the precondensate solution. The impregnated fabricpasses from bath 12 through squeeze rolls 13 into and through calender14 which may be either a sohreinering calender or a friction calender,then into and through the drying and curing oven 15 where the resin inthe calendered fabric is cured. From the curing oven 15 the fabric isfed through a flocking adhesive applioator 17. This applicator consistsof a container 18 for the flocking adhesive having rotating therein afeed roll 19 arranged to transfer the adhesive from the container 18 tothe applicator roll 20 having raised areas 21 or depressed areas thereontorming the desired design. The

flocking adhesive is thus applied in the desired design, i.e., toselected areas of the cellulosic fabric.

From the flocking adhesive applicator 17, the fabric having the adhesiveapplied in selected areas passes to a flocking station 22 wherecellulosic flock is applied by flocking equipment such, for example, asa conventional electrostatic flocker or, as shown in the drawing, from ahopper 23 provided with a screen at its base through which the flock 24is discharged continuously onto the moving web passing therebeneath.

From the flocking station 22 the web having the flock applied theretopasses to a drying oven 25 where the flocking adhesive is set. Thetemperature to which the calender resin finished cellulosic fabric isheated in this drying oven will, of course, depend on the particularadhesive used and the rate of movement of the web through the oven. Ingeneral, heating of the flocked web to a temperature of from 200 to 300F. for from 3 to 5 minutes will firmly bond the cellulosic flock to theunderlying calender resin finished fabric in those areas containing theflocking adhesive.

The flocked web then passes into and through a flock remover 27comprising a chamber 28. The flocked web passes through the approximatemedian of chamber 28 and while passing therethrough is held along theedges by rollers 29, 30 engaging the web on the opposite sides thereofand holding it taut as it passes through chamber 28. Air or other inertgas is blown by a blower into chamber 28, the current of gas enteringthrough conduit 31 and passing through and around the side edges of theflocked fabric. Excess flock, including all flock applied to the areasof the fabric base to which no adhesive had been applied, is thusremoved from the fabric, the current of gas carrying the flock beingexhausted through conduit 32 which communicates with a suitableseparator, such as a filter bag, for separating the flock from the gas.

From the chamber 28 the cellulosic flocked calender resin finishedfabric passes to a printing station 33 where it is printed with thedesired pattern in one or more colors employing a printing pastecontaining as the color constituent a reactive or direct dyestuti whichwill react with the cellulose flock but is resisted by the calenderresin finished fabric. Since the printing paste employed is resisted bythe calender resin finished areas, it is not necessary to take any extraprecautions to make sure that the printing paste is applied only to theflocked areas. Printing can be accomplished by conventional printingequipment involving, for example, printing paste container 36, feedroller 37 for receiving the printing paste from container 3d andapplying the same to an applicator roller 38 having the desireddepressed or raised design areas 39 thereon and which applies theprinting paste in such design to the flocked areas of the :fabric.

One or multiple stage printing may be utilized to apply a pattern in oneor more colors on the flocked areas. While the drawing shows twoseparate printing units, each supplied with a diflerent color paste, anydesired number of such units can, of course, be used, or the flockedfabric printed in one press which is designed to apply one or morecolored patterns to the flocked areas.

From the printing station the fabric passes through an ager or heatingchamber 40 where it is heated to a temperature of from 215 to 220 F. forfrom 9 to 10 minutes. This causes the reaction between the dyestulfapplied to the cellulosic flock and the flock to go to completion.Thereafter the thus treated fabric is washed in washer 41 with a warmsoap solution, desirably at a temperature of to R, which solutioncontains a suitable cationic surface active agent such, for example, asa soap solution containing pyrolidone (Textragin A).

The washed fabric is then dried in dryer 42 and batched, for example, byrolling to form rolls 43 of predetermined lengths.

It will be appreciated that the showing in the drawing is schematic;that the fabric may be rolled after passage through drying oven 25 andthen unrolled for passage through flock remover 27. Similarly the fabricmay be batched upon leaving flock remover 27 and later printed ashereinabove described when convenient. In other Words, the treatment ofthe base need not be continuous but may be interrupted to suit plantdesign or for other reasons.

The following example is illustrative of a preferred embodiment of theinvention. It will be appreciated the invention is not limited to thisexample.

Example I In this example the resin solution employed for impregnatingthe fabric had the following formulation:

Percent Urea formaldehyde resin (Rhonite R1) 11 Su-lfonate softener(Velvatol D46) 1.5 Catalyst (amine hydrochloride) .1 Water 87.4

The percentage value of the resin is the percentage of resin solidspresent in the solution.

The printing paste employed had the following formula:

Percent Cibracron Brilliant Red 3B 4 Sodium n-nitrobenzene sulfonate(Ludigol) 1.5 Urea 15 Sodium bicarbonate 2 Sodium 'alginate 20 Emulsion40 Water 17.5

The emulsion used in the printing paste formulation consisted of PercentA preservative (Dowicide A) tetrahydrate of sodium O-phenylphenate 0.1Sodium talginate 1.5 Hydrocarbon oil-aliphatic (Varsol #2) 60.4 Proteinemulsifying agent 5 Water 33 The percentage values of the preservative,sodium alginate and emulsifying agent represent the solids content ofthese constituents.

Mercerized cotton sateen was passed through the resin solution leavingthe solution with a wet pick-up of 80% and then friction calendered at300 F. under 8 tons of pressure. The thus treated cotton sateen was thencured in a dry atmosphere at 310 -F. for 2 /2 minutes. A glazed finishwas thus produced. A polyurethane adhesive was printed on the surface ofthe fabric in a design and rayon flock (average particle size of aboutmm.) was applied to the fabric. The flocked fabric was cured at 300 F.for about four minutes and then the excess flock removed. The goods werethen framed and printed with a printing paste formulated as hereinabovedescribed. The printed goods were dried at 220 F., then aged for 15minutes at 220 F., washed at 60-80 F., then at 160490 F. with watercontaining a detergent, rinsed with water at 50-80 F. and dried at 300F. for five minutes. The dried goods were framed to finished width andtnbed.

The process results in a novel colored flocked fabric shown in FIGURE 2involving a cellulosic base 46 provided with a calender resin finish 47having a glazed or silk like surface. Securely bonded to the calenderresin finish 47 are the adhesive areas 48 which bond the flocking 49 tothe underlying fabric 46 having the calender resin finish 47. Reactiveor direct dye 50 colors the flocking 49 in a desired design pattern,sharply delineated with respect to the depressed, nnflocked areas 52.

The calender resin finish 47 imparts desirable wrinkle and creaseresistance to the fabric, a silk-like or glazed finish which contrastspleasingly with the fuzzy or furlike appearance of the flock, and alsothe ability to re- 6 sist the reactive or direct dyes printed in designson the flock. Without the calender resin finish the printing colorsapplied to the flock tend to migrate and spread through the base fabric.Surprisingly the application of the calender resin finish to thecellulosic fabric actually improves the intensity of the color in theflocked areas and the sharp delineation obtained between the printedflocked areas and the unflocleed areas. The calender resin finishresults in a sharp differentiation between the unflocked and flockedareas and gives to the observer the impression that the reactive ordirect dye is concentrated in the flock to the substantially completeexclusion of the unflocked areas. This explains the surprisingimprovement in color intensity of the flock and striking color contrastbetween the flocked and unflocked areas.

Since certain changes in carrying out the process and certainmodifications in the colored flocked fabrics which embody the inventionmay be made without departing from the scope of this invention, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not ina limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A flocked fabric consisting of a cellulosic fabric base having acalender resin finish on the surface thereof, and having cellulosicflock firmly bonded to sm'd calender resin finish in selected designareas, which cellulosic flock is printed with a printing pastecontaining a dye from the group consisting of relative dyes and directdyes, the tin-flocked areas of said calender resin finish beingsubstantially free of said dye and contrasting in color with the colorof the said printed flocked selected design areas.

2. A flocked fabric consisting 10f a cellulosic fabric base having acalender resin finish made by impregnating said base with athermosetting resin precondensate of the group consisting of ureaformaldehyde resins, melamine formaldehyde resins, ethylene ureatniazine resins, and mixtures thereof, followed by calendering underpressure and curing said resin and having bonded to said calender resinfinish in selected design areas forming an ornamental design acellulosic flock print colored with a printing paste containing a dyefrom the group consisting of reactive and direct dyes producing flockedareas printed in different colors contrasting with the unfiockedcalender resin finished areas.

3. A process of producing a flocked fabric which comprises impregnatinga cellulosic fabric with an aqueous solution of a thermosetting resinprecondensate, calendering the thus impregnated fabric, curing the resinin the calendered fabric to produce a calender resin finish fabric,applying a flocking adhesive to the calender resin finish fabric inselected areas, applying cellulosic flock to the resultant fabric,setting the flocking adhesive to firmly bond to the selected areas ofthe calender resin finish fabric the cellulosic flock, removing theflock from the areas of said fabric to which no adhesive had beenapplied and printing the flocked areas with a printing paste containinga dye from the group consisting of reactive dyes and direct dyes.

4. A process of producing a flocked fabric which comprises impregnatinga cellulosic fabric with an aqueous solution of a thennosetting resinprecondensate from the group consisting of urea formaldehyde resins,melamine formaldehyde resins, ethylene urea triazine resins, andmixtures thereof, friction calendering the thus impregnated fabric,curing the resin in the calendered fabric to produce a calender resinfinish fabric, applying a flocking adhesive to the calender resin finishfabric in selected areas, applying cellulosic flock to the resultantfabric, setting the flocking adhesive to firmly bond to the selectedareas of the calender resin finish fabric the cellulosic flock, removingthe flock from the areas of said fabric to which no adhesive had beenapplied and printing the flocked areas with a printing paste containinga dye from '2 the group consisting of reactive dyes and direct dyes toproduce a colored pattern on said flocked areas.

5. A process of producing a flocked fabric which comprises impregnatinga cellulosic fabric with an aqueous solution of a thermosetting resinprecondensate from the group consisting of urea formaldehyde resins,melamine formaldehyde nesins, ethylene urea triazine resins, andmixtures thereof, schreiner calendering the thus impregnated fabric,curing the resin in the calendered fabric to produce a calender resinfinish fabric, applying a flocking adhesive to the calender resin finishfabric in selected areas, applying cellulosic flock to the resultantfabric, setting the flocking adhesive to firmly bond to the selectedareas of the calender resin finish fabric the cellulosic flock, removingthe flock from the areas of said fabric to which no adhesive had beenapplied and printing the flocked areas with a printing paste containinga dye from the group consisting of reactive dyes and direct dyes toproduce a multi-col ored pattern on said flocked areas.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,561,513 Horb ack et a1. July 24, 1951 2,718,207 Garrison Sept. 20,1955 2,733,998 Russell et al Feb. 7, 1956 2,881,087 Schwartz et a1. Apr.7, 1957 2,900,270 Klein Aug. 18, 1959 2,981,588 Haber Apr. 25, 1961OTHER REFERENCES Fowler, I.S.D.C., May 1958, pp. 372-381. CasWell, Arn.Dyest. Rep., May 18, 1959, pp. 39-40, 50.

6. A FLOCKED FABRIC CONSISTING OF A CELLULOSIC FABRIC BASE HAVING ACALENDER RESIN FINISH ON THE SURFACE THEREOF, AND HAVING RAYON FLOCKFIRMLY BONDED TO SAID CALENDER RESIN FINISH IN SELECTED DESIGN AREAS,WHICH RAYON FLOCK IS PRINTED WITH A PRINTING PASTE CONTAINING A REACTIVEDYE.